Pop songs with Lilly

Lilly loves to sing. She will sing anything and everything, but what she sings the most are Christian radio and pop radio songs. This is what I heard her singing while painting a pumpkin.

More Patches....

The boy can't seem to keep holes out of his jeans. The school he goes to won't allow kids to wear holes in there jeans. Thus the delimma, constantly buy new jeans or start making patches. So the monster patch was born. For this last patch, I decided to do something different. the boy loves frogs, so that's what I tried.  I think it turned out all right. I might add a fly to the end of the tongue. The boy likes at and he can wear the jeans to school, so I proclaim it a success.

Here is the original monster patch with the new patch

The boy trying on the new patch with a serious case of bed head.

Chickens and Butter Mints - Things that Make me Happy

I'll admit it, I've been a horrible blogger this summer.  I've been in a bit of a funk, and haven't felt like posting lately.  Today though, I've decided to share with you my newest favorite things: chickens and butter mints. (not together of course.)

I can't remember if I wrote about the great chicken massacre of 2012, but long story short, all my chickens were killed.  Last week, I was able to procure 6 lovely pullets (chickens almost ready to start laying) and have sincerely loved watching them explore their new home.  I know this sounds silly, but cleaning out their coop, and watching them explore the yard brings me such a feeling of peace and calm.  I desperately need these few minutes everyday.  How I've missed having chickens.

Here's the run down of my new chickens.  I've got 3 Road Island Reds, my daughter has named them all Lovey.  Two Leghorns,  named Kazoo, and Lizzie by my son, and one Barred Rock named Bardy, palso named by my son. I'll update you more on them as they grow and start laying eggs.

Second, and probably the most harmful of my two new favorite things, are my homemade buttermints.  I found the recipe here on Pinterest, and cannot stop making them.  They are quite possibly the most delightful things I have every made.  I am a great lover of butter mints anyways. The recipe is easy to follow, though I don't add the food coloring.  keep them in the fridge for the perfect melt in your mouth treat.  Blame these when I end up 400 lbs.

A Rain Barrel at Last!

I've been trying to talk my husband into helping me make a rain barrel for a couple of months now.  Last weekend I finally wore him down. It's a slightly hillbilly rain barrel without a spigot, but hey it will work.  Well at least I hope it works, we haven't had rain in weeks, so it's really anybody's guess if this thing is going perform as it should.  I'm quite proud of it despite it's looks.

Here the boys are completely ready to help me.  They are so serious in their task.

This was the best place to place our barrel.  We needed to do a little pruning.

Why yes, that is me wielding a hack saw. 

Ty had to chop the gutter thing and refit it. (My terms are so technical aren't they?)

We cut a hole in the lid of the barrel, screwed and caulked some netting to the top of it, and voila. I can't wait for it to rain to see how it works. Super excited.  If it ever rains I will just have to open the lid and dip my watering can in to fill it up with the caught rain water. (I'm hoping to wear Ty down into putting a spigot on it next spring. We'll see how that goes.)

I Sort of Rocked this Tinker Bell Cake

My daughter turned 4 last weekend.  My sister and I have this tradition where we try to make an epic cake of the child's choosing every year.  Usually we do okay, but this year, I must say we totally rocked it.  My daughter requested a Tinker Bell cake, and after perusing Pinterest looking for ideas, we had a plan.

Haley came over the afternoon of Lilly's birthday, and we got the cakes I had baked earlier in the week out of the freezer, and got to work.

We mixed up the frosting

Then after applying it, I did this new trick I learned here, and smoothed the frosting with paper towel so it looked as smooth as fondant.

My sister added the trim, and I did my best at the curlicues.  Not to shabby.

Haley had the great idea of getting edible sparkles, so my son helped blow them on the cake

Here's the birthday girl showing off her new swimsuit and goggles on her way to her birthday party.

And here is out masterpiece.  Kind of awesome right? Haley and I are pretty sure it's the best cake we've ever made.  Maybe we should just retire now.

Lilly loved her cake, and had a fantastic birthday. Two points for me!

Dog Slippers for Babies

I have successfully made adorable dog slippers for a baby. I can know cross that off my bucket list. Okay, to be seriously, I had never really thought about dog slippers for babies until I came across the book called, Cutest Ever Baby Knits and found this pattern in it.  The timing was perfect since I had a baby shower I was suppose to go to that weekend.  I whipped these slippers up in no time, and have to admit they are pretty darn cute.

Planting, Playing and Catching Fish

This week I finally got off my depressed bum and tried to resume my life with a positive attitude.  The kids and I replanted the garden,(chemical run off from the field beside it killed half my garden), played outside in the gorgeous weather, and caught some fish. Here's the quick picture version of my week.

Here's one of two tepees I have for my beans to grow on.  It also doubles as a fort for the kids

Jumping on the trampoline

Fishing with my princess pole

Super excited about fishing with his new Lightning Mcqueen pole

Lilly with her first ever fish!

Lex holding Lilly's fish.  He caught a big bass, but it broke the line as we were pulling it out of the water.